Remaking HAZELWOOD Remaking Pittsburgh Urban design recommendations for Pittsburgh’s next big urban project Remaking Cities Institute Remaking HAZELWOOD Remaking Pittsburgh Urban design recommendations for Pittsburgh’s next big urban project Elise Gatti With contributions from Jonathan Kline Renee Roy Murtuza Bhopalwala Karen Mesko Luis Rico-Gutierrez Remaking Cities Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Copyright © September 2009 4 Contents Preface 2 Acknowledgements 3 BACKGROUND RECOMMENDATIONS INTRODUCTION FOUNDATIONS Scope 6 Vision 40 Purpose, Objectives & Benefits 8 Themes 42 An Urban Design Approach 10 Opportunities & Challenges 44 Assumptions 46 CARNEGIE MELLON Green Urbanism 48 Urban Laboratory 12 Remaking Cities Institute 14 COMPONENTS Carnegie Mellon Contributions 16 Overview 54 Urban Form 56 HAZELWOOD Frameworks 60 Focus Area 20 • Green-Blue 60 Existing Conditions & History 24 • Transportation 72 Access 28 Places 84 Community Profile 30 • Junction Hollow 86 Planning & Community Development 32 • Four Mile Run Neighborhood 90 Real Estate Market 34 • Robot City 96 • Hazelwood Town Center 104 • Riverside Neighborhood 110 • Hazelwood Greenway 118 • Hazelwood Riverfront Park 122 Legibility 128 Possible Development Scenario 134 IMPLEMENTATION Phasing 138 Development Constraints 142 Project Partners 144 Funding 146 HAZELWOOD URBAN DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Preface How can the urban design-driven redevelopment of a large riverfront brownfield in the City of Pittsburgh have a local and regional transformational impact, and what is the role of Carnegie Mellon University in the process? These questions drive the content of this document. We understand urban design as a multi-disciplinary activity of designing and arranging all the physical elements that make up cities to create harmonious, vibrant and successful places for people. It is not simply about making places look good. Equally important is ensuring that places work and function better for the people who use and inhabit them. Fundamentally, good urban design is the glue that holds a successful city environment together. Most importantly, high-quality urban design is a key to creating sustainable cities and is proven to lead to econom- ic, social, cultural and environmental well-being. The well-being of the Pittsburgh region motivated a group of four philanthropic organizations (The Heinz Endow- ments, Mellon Foundation, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the McCune Foundation) to partner with the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) to form the ALMONO, LP and purchase the former LTV coke works site in Hazelwood. These organizations envision the redevelopment of this site not as a commercial venture but as a way to create a context for a transformational intervention in the social, cultural, economic and ecologic fabric of the greater Pittsburgh region. It was also the desire of contributing to the advancement of a regional agenda that motivated the creation of the Urban Laboratory and the Remaking Cities Institute. Since 1963, the Urban Laboratory: Community and Urban Design Studio at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Architecture has pursued the core principles of participatory urban design through its studio course offerings. With the Pittsburgh region as its focus of study, the Urban Laboratory enriches the training of architects and creates a new generation of urban designers and policymakers positioned to become leaders in the planned growth and sustainable development of our cities. In 2006, the Remaking Cities Institute was established to expand the regional and global impact of the Urban Laboratory by creating new pro- cesses that foster collaboration between faculty, researchers, and professionals in the public and private sectors. By enhancing the work created through the Urban Laboratory, the Remaking Cities Institute enables Carnegie Mellon to contribute more effectively and efficiently to efforts that strive to enhance the quality of life in our region. The recommendations in this report live in between the generalities of academic research and the specificity of a development blueprint. They also live in between the unbounded creativity of our talented students and the pre- conceptions that sometimes go unchallenged in a standard real estate venture. Our work is not intended to replace but rather to augment the work of professionals in the field. Grounded in reality yet ambitious, our recommen- dations aim to challenge notions of what is possible and ultimately foster positive interaction between different stakeholders in the public and private sectors that we hope will result in a high quality contribution to the future of our region. Luis Rico-Gutierrez David Lewis Director of Urban Design and Regional Engagement Remaking Cities Institute Carnegie Mellon University 2 Acknowledgements Remaking Hazelwood, Remaking Pittsburgh: Urban Design Recommendations for Pittsburgh’s Next Big Urban Project was researched, written and produced by Elise Gatti, RCI Research Associate, with contributions from Jonathan Kline, RCI Research Fellow; Renee Roy, RCI Research Associate; Murtuza Bhopalwala, RCI Intern and Masters Candidate, Architectural Engineering Construction Management, School of Architecture; and Karen Mesko, RCI Intern and Masters Candidate, Public Policy and Management, Heinz College. The Principal Investigator was Luis Rico-Gutierrez, RCI David Lewis Director of Urban Design and Regional Engagement. Remaking Hazelwood, Remaking Pittsburgh: Urban Design Recommendations for Pittsburgh’s Next Big Urban Project was funded by the Heinz Endowments. The Remaking Cities Institute would particularly like to thank Christina Gabriel, Program Director, Innovation Economy, and Caren Glotfelty, Program Director, Environment. The Remaking Cities Institute is also grateful to the following people for content contributions and comments: Hongxi Yin, Research Associate, Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics; David Archer, Adjunct Professor of Engineering, Center For Building Performance and Diagnostics; Yang Hu, Doctoral Candidate, School of Architec- ture; William L. “Red” Whittaker, Fredkin Professor of Robotics and Director, Field Robotics Center, Robotics Institute; Ben Grocholsky, Project Scientist, Field Robotics Center, Robotics Institute; Jessica Thurston, Masters Candidate, Public Policy and Management, Heinz College; Bob Gradeck, University Center for Social and Urban Research, Uni- versity of Pittsburgh; Mike Blackhurst, Doctoral Candidate, Engineering and Public Policy, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; and Erin Copeland, Restoration Ecologist, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. And finally, we would like to thank the students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon University School of Architec- ture’s Urban Laboratory who, year after year, have creatively engaged the multitude of urban questions challenging both Hazelwood and the Pittsburgh region. HAZELWOOD URBAN DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS 3 BACKGROUND 4 “THE RUINS OF THE UNSUSTAINABLE ARE THE 21ST CENTURY’S FRONTIER.” Bruce Sterling HAZELWOOD URBAN DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS 5 Introduction • Scope Introduction • Purpose, Objectives & Benefits Scope • An Urban Design Approach Remaking Hazelwood, Remaking Pittsburgh: Urban Design Recommendations for Pittsburgh’s Next Big Urban Project is a guiding document whose aim is to promote a comprehensive, innovative and sustainable urban design-based approach to the redevelopment of the ALMONO site, a 178-acre former steel mill property located along the Carnegie Mellon Monongahela River in Hazelwood, Pittsburgh. Hazelwood The urban design recommendations are the product of deliberation and consultation with stakeholders as well as familiarity with existing plans and initiatives. They build on the work of students in Carnegie Mellon’s Urban Laboratory: Community and Urban Design Studio and the Remaking Cities Institute’s past and current research on Hazelwood. The recommendations capitalize on the development potential of Hazelwood’s central waterfront location and proximity to Oakland, its extraordinary landscape and rich heritage, the unique motivations of the site owners and the interest of regional institutions like Carnegie Mellon University in expanding onto the ALMONO site. Although the ALMONO site redevelopment is the impetus for this document, the geographic scope of the recommenda- tions extend beyond it to Greater Hazelwood and Junction Hollow. The foreseeable economic and cultural impacts extend to the region and beyond. Riverview Park Highland Park Allegheny Cemetery Schenley Park Frick Park Calvary Cemetery Hays Woods 6 HAZELWOOD URBAN DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS 7 Introduction • Scope • Purpose, Objectives & Benefits Purpose, Objectives & Benefits • An Urban Design Approach After languishing for many years in the wake of the devastating restructuring of the steel industry, the Pittsburgh region is slowly but steadily emerging as a place of innovation and promise for a prosperous and sustainable future. The tenacity and vigor with which long-time residents and an ever-growing number of newcomers are tackling Carnegie Mellon the issues and proposing change is inspirational. Foundations, universities, community organizations and neigh- borhood groups are forging links and finding common ground amid their respective interests. As a result of the Hazelwood mobilization of region’s human capital, commercial and cultural districts, neighborhoods and riverfronts are being redesigned, and their meanings